[FN#10] A phrase of frequent occurrence in the Koran, meaning "your female slaves" or "the women ye have captured in war." [FN#11] Quoth he (Solomon), "O chiefs, which of you will bring me her throne?" (i.e. that of Belkis, queen of Sheba) ......."I," said an Afrit of the Jinn, "will bring it thee, ere thou canst rise from thy stead, for I am able thereto and faithful!"--Koran xxvii. 38, 39. [FN#12] One of the fountains of Paradise. [FN#13] Kutheiyir ibn Ali Juma, a well-known poet of the seventh and eighth centuries at Medina. He was celebrated for his love of Azzeh, in whose honour most of his poems were written. The writer (or copyist) of this tale has committed an anachronism in introducing these verses, as Kutheiyir was a contemporary of the Khalif Abdulmelik ben Merwan before whose time Sherkan and his father (both imaginary characters) are stated( see supra, p. 1 {Vol. 2, FN#1}) to have lived; but the whole narrative is full of the grossest anachronisms, too numerous, indeed, to notice. [FN#14] Jemil ben Mamer, another celebrated Arabian poet and lover, a friend and contemporary of Kutheiyir. [FN#15] A person who dies for love is esteemed a martyr by the Arabs. [FN#16] I suspect these verses to have been introduced in error by some copyist. They appear utterly meaningless in this context. [FN#17] The bishop. [FN#18] Apparently referring in jest to her speech to him see supra, p. 27 {see text, Vol. 2, after FN#17}, "Thou art beaten in everything." [FN#19] He likens the glance of her eye to the blade of a Yemen sword,--a comparison of frequent occurrence in Arabic poetry. [FN#20] Mehmil. A decorated framework or litter borne by a camel, sent as an emblem of royalty with the caravan of pilgrims to Mecca, by way of honour to the occasion and to the sacred object of the pilgrimage, much as great people send their empty carriages to attend the funeral of a person for whose memory they wish to show their respect. The introduction of the Mehmil here is another of the many anachronisms of the story, as the custom is said not to here come into use till a much later period. [FN#21] Mecca. [FN#22] Medina. [FN#23] Oriental substitutes for soap. [FN#24] i.e., death. [FN#25] Apparently the Bedouin was angry with the merchant for praising the girl to her face and perhaps also alarmed at finding that he had kidnapped a young lady of consequence, where he only thought to have made prize of a pretty wench of humble condition and friendless. [FN#26] Delight of the age. [FN#27] Affliction (or wrath) of the age. [FN#28] For fuel. [FN#29] "God will open on me another gate (or means) of making my living." A common formula, meaning, "It is not enough." [FN#30] Or state problems. [FN#31] One of the four great Muslim sects or schools of theology, taking its name from the Imam es Shafi (see post, p. 131, note). {see Vol. 2 FN#89} [FN#32] Second of the Abbasside Khalifs, A.H. 136-158.